Kennedy visits Taunton businesses on internet community crawl

Thursday

Aug 30, 2018 at 10:21 AMAug 30, 2018 at 3:36 PM

TAUNTON — Congressman Joseph Kennedy III joined representatives from major technology companies to visit three downtown businesses on Tuesday.

In an event organized by the D.C.-based Internet Association referred to as a “internet community crawl,” Kennedy and representatives from the lobbying and research group’s member companies asked business owners how they use the internet.

According to IA members, the crawl was also intended to find out the impact of the internet economy on a large community like Taunton as it pertains to small business.

“We’ve been doing these all over the country — we’ve picked small businesses that need the internet,” said Internet Association Communications Director Scott Haber.

“We want to hear about how they’re using internet platforms to grow and expand their businesses. …The internet helps every sector of our economy and does it in ways that also enrich the community.”

Kennedy and the technology company representatives — from Facebook, Google, Twitter and YouTube, among others — were joined by Taunton Chamber of Commerce President Kerri Babin.

The group started the crawl at Pacheco’s Jewelry and spoke with longtime owner Louis Pacheco, who said despite initial skepticism of the internet, he has come to embrace it to help him stay connected with customers.

The more than 20-year owner said that he does not spend much time advertising online, but employees have been able to better respond to customer feedback through the use of review and data platforms like Google Reviews and Google Analytics.

“Now that I use (the internet), I don’t know what it would be like without it,” said Pacheco.

Pacheco said that the ability to create an online shopping platform and a customer “wish list” system has allowed for employees to know what a client wants before he or she even comes into the store.

Pacheco said that the jewelry industry has been able to adapt to the needs of an increasingly youthful customer base and move away from more traditional sales methods and product offerings.

“One program that I do is get a high school student to come into the store to ‘refresh’ us and tell us what’s cool again to try to show people that this is in fact, a fun industry.”

After Pacheco’s the group then made its way over to Sheepdog Athletics, a Crossfit gym run by husband-and-wife co-owners Tonya Miller, 28, and Daniel Miller, 29.

“Without the internet, we wouldn’t have opened,” said Tonya Miller.

According to Miller, she and her husband were able to find a location for the gym after they posted on the Improving Taunton Facebook page requesting a property to lease.

Soon after, Miller said that a member of the Downtown Taunton Foundation informed her that a building on Merchants Lane was available that had been gutted and would be a good fit for their needs.

Now approaching its third year in business, Sheepdog Athletics has a strong online presence due to the efforts of both its owners and customers on social media.

“Word of mouth is big for us, but it's people posting on Facebook or reviews on other sites (that keeps customers coming in),” Miller said, adding that video-sharing platforms have allowed for the dissemination of workout routines and regular updates.

Because Sheepdog has now been officially listed as a Crossfit-affiliated establishment online, Miller said that the gym has become a destination point for Crossfit regulars and those looking to try the routine for the first time — they even had a couple on a business trip from Australia who found (the gym) online using the Crossfit map, she said.

For the final stop on the internet crawl, the group stopped at Old Colony History Museum, the only nonprofit entity included in the schedule, and met with Curator Bronson Michaud.

Michaud said that the internet plays an important role for the museum, and others across the country, especially with regards to the digital archiving and preservation of collections and valuable artifacts to create a “museum without walls.”

The ability to post content online has also helped to boost membership numbers compared to previous years, he said.

“It will give (potential guests) a sample, and hopefully that gets them in the door,” he said.

“We have something here for everyone, and that’s the message we try to get across; we want to spread the word and educate people about Taunton.”

Both Kennedy and IA CEO Michael Beckerman said that the crawl was not intended to promote any particular legislation or political viewpoint, but rather, was intended as a form of constituent outreach.

“(Small business) stories are important, because they are the playmakers that help to connect with constituents. To tie these two things together is important,” said Beckerman, adding that the IA has invited Republicans and Democrats to past “crawls.”

Kennedy, who sits on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, said that he wanted to get a better understanding of how businesses use the internet to reach out to customers.

“This is just about trying to make sure that we highlight the importance of the internet (for communities) and the importance of policy discussions as they relate to that,” Kennedy said, mentioning consumer protection laws and net neutrality.

“Net neutrality is a big one — if (small businesses) struggle to get access to the internet, it will have implications for the entire community.”

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